Chapter 63: Narrow Escape from Death
“Damn it!!!”
Ji Yuan’s eyes widened in fury as he pushed his body to the limit, darting toward the exit with all his might.
In just the blink of an eye, he had already burst out of the Death Cave.
Qiu Qianhai, who had been anxiously peering inside from his position on the spell boat, immediately reached out, grabbed Ji Yuan’s arm, and yanked him onto the boat.
Without the slightest pause, the entire spell boat shot toward the surface of the water like an arrow released from a bow.
However, even so, it was still no match for the earth dragon’s upheaval.
Before the two of them could break through the surface, a massive wave capsized their boat.
Fortunately, they weren’t far from the surface anymore. Ji Yuan hurriedly slapped three Water-Avoiding Talismans onto himself in succession.
He then hastily summoned the Black Wind Boat to support his body, while Qiu Qianhai also managed to stabilize himself again.
“Let’s go!”
At that moment, having withstood the first wave, the two finally broke through the water’s surface.
Splash——
As soon as they emerged, Ji Yuan anxiously looked around.
He saw that Qingbo Market now resembled a giant jar half-filled with water, being shaken violently by a colossal hand.
Waves surged sky-high, and small islands made of piled stones swayed wildly as rocks tumbled down in all directions.
“Head for Qingbo Market!”
“Every time the earth dragon stirs, Qingbo Market is the stabilizing anchor!”
Qiu Qianhai’s broken voice was carried over by the wind and crashing waves.
“Alright!”
Ji Yuan adjusted his direction, pushing the Black Wind Boat to its limit, weaving through the raging waves… Damn it, he had never surfed in his previous life, but here he was, surfing during an earthquake in this life.
It was practically a death-defying act!
Fortunately, Ji Yuan’s sailing skills weren’t too bad, and the quality of the Black Wind Boat was decent. When fully powered, it could even glide over the wind for a short time.
After a while.
When Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai finally reached Qingbo Market, they discovered that other cultivators were arriving one after another.
The tremors outside had been terrifying, but as soon as they set foot on Qingbo Market, the ground’s shaking lessened considerably.
Ji Yuan put away the spell boat and let out a sigh of relief. He and Qiu Qianhai found a rock and sat down, both wearing the joyful expressions of survivors who had narrowly escaped death.
As Ji Yuan recalled the events… Damn it, could it be that the earthquake was caused by the Stone Armored Crab’s desperate charges before it died?
After all, the Death Cave was connected to the mineral veins beneath the bottom of the lake, and the Stone Armored Crab’s strength was immense.
It wasn’t impossible.
But he no longer cared.
Surviving and escaping was all that mattered.
The moment he sensed the tremors back in the Death Cave, Ji Yuan had truly thought he was going to die in there.
An earthquake… underwater… inside a mining cave beneath the lake.
Any one of these alone could have been deadly, let alone all three combined.
Thinking back, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but shiver.
But when he recalled their harvest this time, he grew excited and filled with anticipation.
Not to mention the two storage pouches from two cultivators at the sixth layer of Qi Refining—just the Cold Iron Sand they had mined alone was worth a fortune in spirit stones.
By Ji Yuan’s estimate, they had probably gathered around twenty pounds.
Even if they split it evenly, it would still sell for about two hundred spirit stones.
Ji Yuan let out another breath of relief and noticed that many nearby cultivators also wore happy smiles on their faces.
“An earthquake brings up a lot of Cold Iron Sand, and some of the living Cold Caves will turn into Death Caves.”
Qiu Qianhai explained softly.
So after the earthquake settled, it would be time to pick up spirit stones.
And they would be scattered all over the ground.
If they could find another Death Cave, it would be an even greater windfall.
Ji Yuan was just about to discuss with Qiu Qianhai whether they should mine another batch of Cold Iron Sand or leave after the earthquake completely settled.
When he turned to look at Qiu Qianhai, he froze.
“Hm?”
Qiu Qianhai looked at him in confusion.
Ji Yuan said nothing but rubbed his own face.
Qiu Qianhai immediately understood.
He reached up and touched his own face. His previously thick beard had long since disappeared somewhere, and much of his other disguise had been washed away by the massive waves earlier, revealing his true face.
Ji Yuan was no different.
‘Looks like I really haven’t learned any proper disguise techniques. Relying on these little tricks isn’t going to cut it anymore.’
‘Once this is over, I’ll visit Hundred Treasure Pavilion and see if they have any suitable disguise techniques.’
As Ji Yuan silently considered this, he casually scanned the cultivators on the island.
He was worried that someone might have recognized him and Qiu Qianhai—especially Qiu Qianhai… The Qin family probably had several agents stationed here at Qingbo Market.
Ji Yuan gestured subtly with his eyes, then turned toward a less crowded area.
“As soon as this settles down, we leave.”
Ji Yuan spoke just this one sentence.
“Alright.”
Qiu Qianhai nodded in agreement.
After waiting for about an hour, the previously surging waves of Qingbo Market finally began to calm down. Another half an incense stick of time passed.
A cultivator piloted his boat and jumped into the water.
The others, who had been holding back for long enough, followed one after another, piloting their boats into the water.
“Let’s go!”
Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai also steered their boat into the crowd.
After traveling a short distance, they submerged beneath the surface once more.
Unbeknownst to them, after they left, two cultivators on the island exchanged glances, then quietly followed them from a distance.
Ji Yuan held two spirit stones in his hand, circulating his cultivation technique to absorb the spiritual energy within, replenishing what little he had used in the previous fight.
In truth, he hadn’t used much.
After all, his few attacks had all been with the Life-Taking Needles.
Even the Yin Ghost Formation had been operated using spirit stones and hadn’t drained his own spiritual energy.
After the two traveled underwater for about a mile, they surfaced again, briefly oriented themselves, and headed straight west.
According to their original plan, they would first go to the nearby Jingde Market to sell the Cold Iron Sand, then make further plans.
An hour later.
The water color had changed from dark blue to light blue, and finally returned to its usual green.
The chilling aura surrounding them had also dissipated.
This meant they had finally left Qingbo Market.
But Ji Yuan didn’t feel much relief.
Not long after leaving Qingbo Market, he had already sensed a faint gaze tracking him.
Even now, after leaving Qingbo Market, that feeling still hadn’t disappeared.
He turned to meet Qiu Qianhai’s gaze.
The latter nodded slightly.
Indicating that he had sensed it too.
If that was the case, it was most likely that their identities had been exposed back on Qingbo Market, and someone had followed them.
Ji Yuan looked around and finally chose an island about a few miles wide.
The island wasn’t tall—its highest point barely five or six meters above the lake surface.
Its shores were mostly muddy flats, with only a few lush willow trees growing in the center.
If this matter wasn’t resolved soon, it would only become more troublesome once the Qin family’s reinforcements arrived.
So after landing on this desolate island, Ji Yuan turned back toward the direction they had come from and said in a deep voice:
“Fellow Daoists, you’ve followed us this far. Isn’t it about time you showed yourselves?”
As he spoke, Ji Yuan injected his spiritual energy and immediately refined the two storage pouches from the Liu brothers.
With a battle looming, he naturally had to check if those two good-for-nothing brothers had left behind any trump cards.
They had dominated Qingbo Market for so long, only to die in such a pathetic way. Surely they had left behind some good stuff.
As Ji Yuan’s mind sank into the storage pouches, his eyes immediately lit up.
At the same time, two spell boats rose from the lake surface, flanking the island from the left and right.
Encircling both Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai.